Parenting Intervention for Prevention of Behavioral Problems in Elementary School-Age Filipino-American Children: A Pilot Study in Churches.
Joyce R Javier, Dean M Coffey, Sheree M Schrager and 2 others
PMID 27626390WHAT IT FOUND
Filipino-American parents in a church-based parenting program reported less parenting stress and less physical punishment than wait-list controls at 3 months.
Other parenting and child behavior outcomes did not differ. The trial was small and preliminary.
Key findings
01The treated group differed from the wait-list group on total parenting stress, parent-child dysfunctional interaction, difficult child, and physical punishment, in the expected direction.
02The treated group did not differ from the wait-list group on appropriate discipline, positive verbal discipline, or child internalizing, externalizing, and total problem behaviors.
0381% of parents wanted to continue meeting after the program ended, and satisfaction ratings ranged from 5.73 to 6.95 on a 7-point scale.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The analysis included 22 parents, while the planned sample was 36, so the study cannot establish the program's effect. 50% of eligible parents refused to take part, and six of 28 randomized parents stopped before completion. Parents reported their own parenting stress, discipline, and child behavior, and the study did not use home observation. Participants came from two Catholic churches and associated schools in Los Angeles, so the findings may not fit other Filipino-American communities. Only parents who attended at least 75% of sessions were included in the analyzed sample, which may overestimate the program's effect. The Child Behavior Checklist reliability could not be checked in this sample because raw item data were not available. The control group was a wait-list group, and the authors estimate a future randomized trial would need 240 parents.
Declared interests
The article is labeled as supported by N.I.H. extramural and non-U.S. government funding. One author is a certified Incredible Years mentor and trains others in the program, currently for Children's Hospital Los Angeles as part of his employment, and reports no direct personal income. The other authors declared no conflicts.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that this program prevents child behavior problems. The child behavior outcomes were secondary and did not differ between groups at 3 months, and the study was a pilot with 22 analyzed parents.